When Hip Hop Was Re born 1994

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On April 8, 1994, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was found dead in his home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It was a kick in the balls for rock, and on the heels of the devastating news the music seemingly headed into a tailspin. The passionate, zeitgeist-shifting post-punk offered up by Nirvana and the slew of alternative acts that succeeded in their wake was quickly supplanted by grunge-lite and forgettable one-hit wonders. The Spice Girls lurked just around the bend.

But while rock fans were in mourning, another genre of music was experiencing a rebirth. Two weeks after Cobain's death, a young rapper named Nas released his debut LP, Illmatic, an album marked by gritty b-boy melodies and stunning lyricism. That same year Sean "Puffy" Combs tried his hand at directing a music video for a new group called Outkast. Biggie and Tupac were homies. The Wu-Tang Clan were unrivaled in skill (or size) as an MC collective. Snoop, then calling himself "Doggy Dogg," became the undeniable king of rap. And a female MC named Da Brat did not have to expose her breasts or thong to become the first solo female rapper to push a million-plus units. Hip-hop hasn't exactly been floundering in the decade that's passed since '94, but it hasn't seen as great -- or as influential -- a year since.

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